Nanded incident all but forgotten by PMC

The shocking occurrence at Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College, Nanded, between September 30 and October 2 in which 38 patients, including several infants, allegedly died due to a shortage of staff and medicines, seems to be all but forgotten.

Reason being while chief minister Eknath Shinde had ordered civic bodies and district collectors in the state to immediately visit and inspect all government hospitals, municipal hospitals, public health department hospitals, and hospitals under the jurisdiction of medical colleges in the wake of the incident, the health department has so far inspected only 16 out of 79 healthcare facilities, abruptly stopping all inspection thereafter.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has 79 healthcare facilities including hospitals, maternity homes and dispensaries out of which, only 16 healthcare facilities have been inspected. Two assistant health officers, Dr Rajesh Dighe and Dr Vidya Nagmode, were appointed to inspect all PMC-run healthcare facilities and submit a report. However, Dr Nagmode has gone on long leave while Dr Dighe has stopped visits and inspection citing the workload of the Mission Indradhanush (immunisation) programme.

Dr Dighe said that after being assigned the task of inspecting the facilities, three maternity homes and three clinics were inspected. “Later, given the field visits required for the Mission Indradhanush programme, the inspections were stopped. The report has been submitted to the department,” Dr Dighe said.

Dr Kalpana Baliwant, deputy health officer of the PMC said that both officials between themselves have inspected 16 healthcare facilities and no serious problem was found at any of these facilities. “A stock of medicines for a period of two months was available at the hospitals. Hygiene and cleanliness were found at the hospitals. However, there is a shortage of staff at some facilities,” she said.

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, health officer of the PMC, said, “Dr Nagmode has inspected 10 healthcare facilities and Dr Dighe has inspected around six healthcare facilities. No major issue was found at any of the setups. Hospitals like Kamla Nehru Hospital and Naidu Infectious Diseases’ Hospital which have major footfalls, have been inspected. We have issued orders to the zonal and ward medical officer to start inspecting the hospitals in their jurisdiction.”